


Starlit

by SapphicScavenger



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Animal Death, Crowley is Bad at Being a Demon (Good Omens), Harm to Animals, M/M, Other, crowley is kokabiel, crowley is soft, laika gets the happy ending she deserves, mentioned - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-08-23 05:56:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20237872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphicScavenger/pseuds/SapphicScavenger
Summary: The last thing Crowley expects to see on one of his space voyages is a lonely specter illuminated by the stars.





	Starlit

**Author's Note:**

> This is an idea I had a week ago and posted about but then found out afterwards someone also wrote about it. This isn't related to their fic. Inspired by this comic by Cremsie on Tumblr.   
https://cremsie.tumblr.com/post/178049440810/loyalty-that-surpasses-the-stars-i-have-a-lot-of
> 
> Dedicated to the memory of Mia, my retired guardian angel. Godspeed to you you lovely beast. I'm still finding your fur everywhere a year later.

Like many couples, Crowley and Aziraphale love each other more than anything in the universe. Unlike other couples, they are an angel and a demon as old as the universe itself who have known each other since the day Adam and Eve were first cast out of The Garden of Eden. Like other couples, though they love each other dearly they both need their own space once in a while. Sometimes literally. 

Our story takes place on October 5th, 2019 at approximately 13:45:21. The A.Z.Fell and Co Bookstore is particularly crowded on this date at this time. It's never been this crowded before, but with Halloween around the corner there's many people looking for old books to use with a costume or use to summon spirits or demons. Only the Almighty knows why it happened to be so packed on this day, and perhaps she planned it so that Crowley would want some space to himself away from all the humans and would abandon Aziraphale to the crowds and sneak out to just beyond the atmosphere where he could be alone. And that is precisely what the demon Crowley did on that afternoon.

There are two important things you need to know about Crowley for this story. The first is that Crowley despises the cold. Being a serpent, Crowley gets cold much more easily than his other immortal counterparts. In the cold seasons he becomes sluggish and grouchy, often getting sick and falling asleep in strange places. A common sight on cold nights is Crowley cuddled up to Aziraphale, fast asleep, while the angel reads a book and runs his fingers through the demon's feathery dark red locks. There is one cold that Crowley doesn't mind and that is the cold of outer space. It's a bit like stepping into a freezer room on the hottest day of the summer. 

The cold astral wind stung his nose and his lungs contracted painfully from the sudden lack of oxygen. However, Crowley didn't believe a lack of oxygen could discorporate him, so it didn't. From London Soho, it took one hour and six minutes for Crowley to reach his usual sit-spot on the moon, which is where he was headed today. However, at 14:37:06 London time, Crowley was stopped on his journey by the glimpse of something unorthodox.   
Since the 1950's, Humans have been launching objects into space. Crowley was particularly interested in the space race at the time, excited by the notion that humans would get to see the galaxy he had helped paint for them. In the year 2019, with the International Space Station orbiting Earth, Crowley shouldn't have been surprised by anything he came across in his travels. He had been up there about 138 times since the Russians first launched Sputnik 1 into orbit in 1957. However, whatever Crowley was expecting to see, a ghost wasn't one of them. 

It's common knowledge that all animals go to heaven. Not the office building Aziraphale had worked for, but the beautiful part of heaven. Luscious and full of life with endless bounties of food and space to roam. Some of the more loyal animals, like dogs, will wait at the entrance of heaven for their masters. Of course, all kinds of creatures will occasionally stay on Earth as Ghosts, being attached to something or someone. It is most rare to see a ghost out in the inky abyss of space where nothing lives or dies, illuminated by the stars. 

On silent wings, Crowley flew to the spirit, who hadn't noticed him yet and kept her head lowered. She was a small, terrier-like dog with mostly white fur patterned with dark splotches, including a mask across her face broken by a white blaze. Her curly tail was curled over her back, but it wasn't wagging. It hadn't wagged in years. The dog suddenly noticed his presence and looked up at him. Like most lost souls, her eyes were white, no pupils or irises. Despite this, her expressive eyes seemed to widen and look at the demon with a look of disbelief and happiness. 

Crowley wracked his mind for an answer and remembered that the first living thing in space was a small dog named Laika, sent up by the Russians. A small terrier-like dog reputed for her sweet disposition and cleverness. Laika had reportedly died a few days after her initial launch, but that was a coverup for the fact she had died a few hours after her launch from overheating and stress. Even then, Laika was never planned to survive her trip into orbit. The scientists had provided her with enough food to last a week, with the final portion of food being poisoned in order to humanely euthanize her. Crowley hadn't paid the ordeal much mind in years, but now his heart reopened to the grief he felt for the little dog. He reached out his hand for her to sniff and was greeted by the lonely starlit spirit who sniffed him over and enthusiastically licked his fingers.   
"So... They used you to reach the stars too?" He said to her with a distant voice, reflecting on his time as the angel Kokabiel who helped weave the intricate tapestry of the sky. "And when they were done with you... They threw you away..." His voice hitched, thinking back to the fall from heaven. 

And this is where we get to our second and final important thing to know about the demon known as Crowley. Crowley is soft hearted. No matter how cruel he acts and how hard he tries to hide it, he is truly kind. He loves Aziraphale, doing small things simply because it made his angel light up. He became a midwife for a few centuries because so many women and infants were dying from male doctors not knowing what they were doing, although he told his head office that he was secretly Baptizing infants in the name of Lucifer so that their souls would belong to Hell. He saved 700 Mesopotamian children from the flood, hiding them in the ark among the many snakes that nobody ever bothered to check on. No matter how Crowley tries to hide it, he is a sensitive and kind soul. 

Crowley stretched out his arms to Laika, allowing the starlit ghost to jump into his grasp, where he was miraculously able to hold her like one would a normal dog. It is like this that he gave up his mission for solitude and flew back to earth, relieving Laika of her lonely resting place. The two lost souls looked out at the wonders of space only one more time before leaving. "But don't worry. I know an angel who likes lost things."

"There you are dear!" Aziraphale exclaimed when the bell on the bookshop door rang. "Where the hell have you been, leaving me to the crowds like that? You could have at least told me you were lea-" He turned to face the door to find Crowley holding a little canine specter to his chest. "What do you have there?"  
"You talked about wanting a dog once." Crowley said breathlessly.   
"That was 200 years ago Crowley. I talked about rescuing one of those poor little turnspit dogs."  
"Well she's got the stripe down her face like a turnspit dog, and the curly tail. Good enough? Good. Now help me bring her back to life and I'll explain everything later."  
"Bring her back to-! Crowley you know how much effort it would take. We'd have to create her a new body and then vessel her soul into that body. It would drain us for at least two days."  
"Two days where you don't have to open the bookshop due to being 'extremely ill'." Crowley argued. Aziraphale thought for a moment.  
"Fine." He caved. "But you don't expect me to walk her for those two days." Suddenly the bookshop and the flat above it were outfitted with everything a small dog would need. Aziraphale knelt on the floor and Crowley sat next to him, putting Laika on the ground. 

It took nearly 30 minutes before Laika opened her new, soulful brown eyes. She stretched all her limbs in disbelief and tested each of them. She looked up at the angel and demon, now slumped against one another fighting off sleep, and recognized them as her new masters. She jumped onto them, licking their faces gratefully and wagging her curly tail that hadn't wagged in so many years. Laika hadn't been on earth in 62 long years, and now she could stay as long as she wanted, being effectively immortal. All Laika knew now was that these two beings as old as time had saved her from an eternity alone in the abyss. They had fulfilled her greatest desire, to be brought home. The least she could do now was be their loyal companion for the rest of time.

That night, Laika ate two whole lambchops and was taken for what should have been a short walk with Crowley, but when you haven't been on earth in 62 years and are brought back to a whole new country, there's going to be many wonderful new sights and smells to explore. She got a warm bath and slept for the first time in years. Aziraphale's No Dogs On The Bed rule had only lasted five minutes before the angel caved and let the little dog curl up under his arm while he read and while Crowley slept with his arms wrapped around his partner. That night, for the first time, Laika looked up at the stars from earth and listened to her masters' soft snores and felt truly loved.  
"Perhaps," She thought. "I should give them a thank you present."

That is the reason the next morning Crowley was presented with a dead squirrel after letting the dog offleash in the park. This dead squirrel was only the first of many presents to come.

**Author's Note:**

> In case it wasn't clear, Laika is now effectively immortal and will only die when she feels she's been relieved of her duties. Meaning she won't die because she has now dedicated herself to staying with Crowley and Aziraphale for the rest of time.


End file.
